Assembly-machine



0. M. KELLEY.

ASSEMBLY MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR.\6. 19l8. 1 320,238 I Patented Oct. 28,1919.

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ASSEMBLY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 61 l9l8.

Patented 0c 1919.

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0. M. KELLEY.

ASSEMBLY MACHINE.

APPLlCATlON FILED MAR. 6,19l8- Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

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I 55 5 wumtoz OreaMKelley mm M. KELLEY, or LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

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Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

Ap nation filed March e, 1918. Serial no. 220,768.

To all whom it may whom.-

Be it known that I, Ouer KELLEY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at- Lowell; MiddleseX county," State of Massachusetts have invented and discovered certain new and useful Iifipfov'ements in Assembly-Machines, of which the following is a specificatioii.

My said invention release method of,

and an ap aratus fin-,1 manufacturing am:

n'iunitioii for firearms, and c'tifisists" iri the steps of procet'lu're in the process; and conibnlanonsand arrangements of elements in the apparatus, hereinafter described and particularly set fo'rth 1n the accompany fill the samewith lead slugsand then a series of operations shapethe jackets andslugs into integral units and of the size re- Fig, 2'

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification; like characters rep-; resent similar parts in the several VleW'S shown of which, j a

Figure 1 is an elevation of a complete machine constructed in accordance with my invention; j

Fig. 2 a. section on the line 2'2 of Fig; 1; Fig. 3 an eleiation of the machine portion shown in Fig. 2 I l Fig. a detail section on the line 4-4 of Fig-{ 5 a detail perspective of one ofthe transfer elements of the device;

6 a horizontal section on the line 66, of 1; Fig. 7 a 'verticalpsection on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; i

Fig. 8 a detail section onthe line 8-8 Fig. 9 a detail horizontal section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1, and,

Figs. 10 to 19 show the development of the jackets, and the different steps taken in inserting the slugs in the jackets and fixing? the same therein,

The apparatus consists of platform which is supported upon legs 16 and has mounted thereon the main frame 17 of the machine. The frame 17 carries a superframe structure 18 which in turn supports a hopper 19 designed to contain the bullet j ackets, and hopper 20 of special construction for holding the molten metal from which the slugs are formed.

The jackets 21 (see Figs. 10 to 19) are fed through the tube 22 with'their closed ends leading. The open end 23 of the tube 22 is located in line with a cavity or recess formed between the resilient fingers 2 1 of a reciprocable transfer block 25 which is of a size to] retain only one jacket at a time. These jackets are expelled from the transfer block to a bushing chain in a manner to be described.

The hopper 20 has formed on its under side a cylindrical casing 26 in which is snugly fitted a hollow cylindrical member V p j 27 provided with a series of measuring openquired for inserting in the shells of the cartridges.

lugs 28 whose capacity may independently be varied by means of anadjusting screw 29 which screws into the opening 28. When hopper to flow into and fill each of the measuring openings 28. The cylindrical member 27 is then rotated to bring its openings 28 immediately above and in register with a series of mold 31 which form part of horizontally disposed mold-carrying chain 32 supported on the driven sprocket 33 and the idle' sprocket 34:; 'In detail, this chain 32 consists of a series of cylindrical blocks 35'bored out at 36 and provided with a false bottom 37 integrally formed upon the upper end of a spring-pressed rod .38. The blocks 35 are formed into a continuous chain by aseries of links 39 shown in Fig. 6. An intermittent movement is imparted to the chain through means to be explained. After the molds have been filled they are moved toa position where the slugs 36 formed therein are ejected and deposited in a series. of chutes leading to the bushing chainf The manner of transferring the slugs from the mold carrying chain tothe chutes is accomplished in the following manner: A continuously driven shaft 40 is journaled in suitable bearings 41 on the frame 17 and has keyed thereto a single throw cam 42 which operates to lift a roller 43 journaled in the end of the arm 44 on a shaft 45 that is mounted to oscillate in bearings secured to the .frame 17. This shaft 45 carries a pair of arms 46 connected at their outer ends by a curved plate 146 of a length sufficient to operate beneath five of the rods 38. The lifting of these rods together with the members 37 pushes the several slugs up into a series of spring bushings 47 each of which is composed of two members 48 held together by a pair of springs 49. This structure of bushing thereby automatically adjusts itself to any slight variation in the sizes of the slugs. The members 48 of each bushing areloosely supported by two plates 50 which are secured to opposite surfaces of a block 51 that is slidably mounted in a casing secured to the top of the frame 17. A depending and slotted lug 53 is mounted on the under side of each block 51 and has pivoted connection with the upper end of a lever 54 fulcrumed at 55 to a bracket formed on the frame 17. The lower end of said lever 54 carries a roller 55 which is in contact with the cam 42 at a point approximately 90 degrees in advance of the roller 43. A spring 56 tends to normally hold the roller 55 in contact with the cam 42. Mounted in bearings 57formed on the block 51 is rocker shaft 58 provided with a series of upwardly and outwardly inclined arms 59, retained in such position by means of springs 60, and said arms are turned down at their outer ends to form push members 61 for ejecting the slugs from the bushings. This ejection of the slugs is accomplished by means of a rearwardly ex ending arm portion 62 that issecured to the rocker shaft and provided with a downwardly turned end 63 that acts as a cam element and is adapted to come into contact with the upper rear edge of the easing 52 when the block 51 is moved forward, thereby causing the several forwardends 61 to enter the bushings and eject the slugs into the chutes 64 which merge into a common chute 65.

It will be noted that as five slugs are deposlted at one tune it is necessary to have the chutes 64 of different lengths to prevent jamming or crowding of the slugs when entering the single chute 65. The slugs 136 are therefore caused to pass 1n single file -main driven shaft down the chute 65 and enter a transfer device of the same construction as that located at the end of the chute 22, namely a pair of spring fingers 66 on a transfer block 67 which isof a size 'to-retain only one slug at a time. Both transfer devices are designed so that when they are moved away from their respective chutes, the sides of the blocks 25 and 67 are so positioned that they retain the second jacket or slug while holding the first one in position to be entered into the bushing chain that operates in connection with the shaping and sizing dies.

The bushing chain comprises a series of cylindrical blocks 68 connected to each other by pairs of links 69 to form an endless chain. Eachof the blocks 68 has a central bore 70 in which aremounted a series of bow springs 71 provlded respectively with a shoulder or stop 72 to prevent the return passage of a jacket; Mounted in an up stand ng bracket 7 3 secured to the platform 15 are two stub shafts74 and 75 on which are loosely mounted a driven sprocket 7 6 and an idle sprocket 77 which carry the bushing chain. During the intermittent movement of this chain, its downward traveling portion passes in alineinent with a series of dies formed in a vertical member 78 secured to the platform 15.

The frame .17 is provided with a pair of slideways79 in which is mounted to reciprocate a cross head 80 carrying a series of die elements 81 adapted to cotiperate with the dies 82 formed in the member 78 to form and fill the jackets, as described later. Mounted to reciprocate in slideways 83 secured to the member .78 is a cross head 84'- carrying a series of ejecting elements 85 which. are adapted to enter certain of the dies to dlslodge the ackets therefrom.

All of the several elements and devices described are indirectly operated from a 86 mounted on the plat form 15. This shaft 86 is driven by any suitable power through the medium of a pulley 88 and belt 89 as shown; Keyed to the shaft 86 is a spur pinion 90 w ich is J in constant mesh with a. gear 91 secured to a second shaft 92 j ournaled in suitable bearings 93. In the device illustrated, these gears operate at a ratio of five to one owing tot-he fact that five slugs are cut at one time. A bevel pinion 94 is secured to the shaft 92 and drives a similar pinion 95 secured at one end of a vertical shaft 96 which has a pinion 97 on its opposite end meshing with a similar pinion onthe shaft 46-. A chain .98 operating on a sprocket 99 of the shaft 40 and also riding on a sprocket 100 secured to the cylinder 27 causes the cylinder to rotate continuously at a relatively slow speed. a j

The shaft 92 also has mounted thereon a cam 101 which transmits motion to a bell-crank lever 102 through the medium of a roller 103 on the end of one arm thereof. The other arm of the-bell-crank lever has connected to it a pitman 104 which lmparts an oscillatnigmotionf to an arm. 105 ful crumed on the shaft 106 on which the sprocket 33 is secured. The shaft 106- also carries a ratchet wheel 107 which derives" its motion from the arm 105 through the medium of a pawl 108 secured to said arm.

7 The movement of the ratchet and its associated elements imparts the proper movement to the mold chain 32.

The crosshead 80 1s'rec1procatedby means 7 of'a cam 109 secured to the shaft 86. This cam operates against a roller 110 mounted on a rod 111 that is secured at one end to the crosshead 80 and which is provided at its opposite end with an elongated guide opening 112 through which the shaft 86 projects. Springs 113 tend to normally hold the 'crosshead in its retracted position. The crosshead 84 is similarly operated to reciprocate in the slideways' 83 by means of the same cam 109' operating against a roller 114 mounted in the end of a lever 115 fulcrumed on the frame 17'. A pitman 1 116 connects the lever115 with one arm of a bell-crank lever 117 mounted beneath the platform 15, and said bell-crank lever transmits a rocking motion to a lever1118 by means of a connecting rod 119. The upper end of the lever 118 is connected to the crosshead '84 through a short pitman 120,and springs 121 normally bentto hold the crosshead 84in its retracted position.

The bushing chain referred to is' advanced intermittently to permit oflthe transferring of the jackets from one die to the next until the entire nine operations are completed. This operation is accomplished in the following manner: The shaft 74 isprovided with a ratchet wheel 122 and also has fulcrumed thereon, adjacent the wheel, an arm 123 which carries a spring pressed pawl 124 (see Figs. 1 and 8) which acts against the ratcl'iet w'h'eel 1'22. An intermittent motion is imparted to the arm 123 by means of a bell cranklever 125 which is fulcrumed on the upper slideway 83' and" which has a swivel connection with the arm and 'a slidlng engagement with a pm 126 carrled by the crosshead 84. The transfer-devices de scribed operate simultaneously and. are

therefore connected; by meansflof a member 127 which is provided on one surface with a pair of ea-rs128 carry-ing'a pin 129 to which'is loosely connected one arm of a bell-crank lever 130 mounted, onabracket 131 secured to the upright 73. The other arm of 'theIbell-crank is connected to-the crosshead, 84 by. a connecting rod 132. will be understood that both the intermi'ttent movement of thebushing chain'and the operation of the transfer devices are ac complished during the return stroke of the crosshead 84.

The operation of the device is as follows: Jacketsv in the form shown (see Fig. 10) are placed in the hopper 19 and fed singly down through the tube 22 to the spring The uppermost or first of the arms 24. I plungers 81 now pushes the jacket into the bushing chain which is then advanced one space to place the jacket in position to be inserted into the first of a series of four shaping dies. The jacket is ejected from the fisst three of these dies by means of the push rods 85; but is withdrawn. from the fourth die by means of a series of small projections or burs on the corresponding is designed to deposita small portion of its 7 contents into the pockets 28 of the measuring cylinder 27 which is continuously rotating. At the proper time the material in the pockets 28 is emptied into the several molds 8 6 of the mold chai-n'31 which carries it to the chutes 04. In order to have the slugs delivered to the chutes in the right position, the following system is used: The action of the plate 146 against the rods 38 causes the slugs to be pushed up into the" bushings 47 which, through the action of the cam 42 and lever 54, are moved to overlie the several chutes 64. Immediately upon reaching this position the slugs are forced out of the bushings and caused to drop into the chutes by meansof the downturned portions 61 of the levers 5-9. The slugs then passdown through the chutes 65 and successively into the transferring device. After the" forward operation of the transfer ring device 66 the corresponding plunger 81 moves the sluginto the completed jacket and continues this movement until it hasfirmly jammed the sluginto the jacket in the die member. The bullet is then forced back into the bushing chain by means of the injecting plunger 85 whence it is transferredto the next die by means of a plunger that bevels or crimps the endof the acket inwardly toward the end of the slug.

' The two operations following serve to complete the process ofshaping'the end of the jacket, thereby sealing the slug" firmly within. The vlast plunger simply carries the bullet through the" sizing die that trims 01f" any surplus metal. The finished bullet then falls into a drawer or receptacle as indicated.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my inventionand I therefore do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention what I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bulletsthe combination of means for shaping the bullet jackets, means for fernr ing the jacket slugs, and means for inserting and fixing said slugs in the jackets, substan: tially as set forth.

2. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of means for shaping the bullet jackets in a series of operations, means for molding the jacket -slugs, and means for inserting'and fixing the molded slugs in the jackets, substantially as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of a means for shaping the bullet jackets in a series of intermittent operations, means for molding the jacket slugs, and means for inserting and fixing the molded slugs in the jackets in a series of intermittent operations, substantially as set forth.

4. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of a plurality of die elements for successively shaping the bullet jackets, means for molding the bullet slugs, means for assembling the slugs and jackets, a plurality of die elements for fixing the slugs in the jackets, and transferring means for carrying the bullet parts and the bullets between said die elements, substantially as set forth.

0. In an apparatus for producing car tridge bullets the combination of a plurality of .die elements for successively shaping the bullet jackets, means for molding the bullet. slugs, means for assembling the slugs and jackets, a plurality of die elements for fixing the slugs in the jackets in successive steps, and a chain carrier movable between said die elements and coiiperable therewith for transferring the articles between the dif ferent forth.

6. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of a plurality of fixed die elements for'the bullet jackets, movable die elements cooperable with the fixed die elements, means for ejecting the jackets from said fixed die elements, a car-.

rier for intermittently transferring the j ackets to the respective dies,'means for molding the bullet slugs, die elements for assembling the jackets and slugs, a plurality of fixed and movable die elements for forming and to the bullet die elements, substantially as set of fixed die'elements for the bullet jackets,

the combination of a plurality movable die elements cooperable with the Y fixed die elements, means for ejecting the' partially formed bullet jackets, a fixed and a movable die element for finally forming the jackets, lsaid movable finished die element having meansfor withdrawing the finally formed jackets, means for molding thebullet slugs and applying and, affixing the same to said jackets, transferring means for the articlesintermittently operable between the die elements, and a common operating means for said die molding apparatus, the die elements, and said transferring means, substantially as set forth. 7

8.- In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of a retort for moltenmetal, a die coiiperable with the retortto form the bulletslugs, means for ejecting the formed slugs from the die, means for transferring the ejected slugs, a chute adapted to receive the ejected slugs, and means for applying and fixing the slugs jackets, substantially as set forth.

,9. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of a retort for molten metal, a series of dies cooperable with the retort to form the bullet slugs. means for simultaneously ejecting the formed slugs from the series of dies, means for sinniltaneously transferring the ejected. slugs, a plurality of chutes adapted to receive the ejected slugs and-convey thesame in succession to a common discharge point, and means for applying and afiixing the slugs to the bullet jackets, substantially as set forth.

10. In an apparatus for producing eartridge bullets,the combiiiatioii of a'retort for molten metal, a carrying chain having a plurality of dies cooperalole in series with the retort to form the bullet slugs, means for ejectingithe series of slugs simultaneously from the carrying chain dies, means bullet jackets, substantially asset forth.

11. Inan apparatus forproducing cartridge bullets the combination of a receptacle for containing the blank bullet jackets, an intermittently operated chain conveyer slugs to the jackets, substantially as set forth.

12. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of a retort for molten metal molds for forming the bullet slugs, an intermittently operated chain conveyer adapted to hold the bullet jackets to receive said slugs, a series of fixed and movable dies cooperable with the chain conveyer to shape and fix the assembled slugs and jackets, and means for ejecting the finished bullets from the conveyer, substantially as set forth.

13. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets the combination of fixed and movable die elements for forming, assembling, and fixing the bullet jackets and slugs, and a. chain conveyer cooperable therewith comprising a plurality of cylindrical blocks having openings, and low springs fixed therein adapted to hold the bullet parts, substantially as set forth.

1%. In an apparatus for producing cartridge bullets, the combination of intermittently operable slug molding means, intermittently operable jacket forming means, intermittently operable means for fixing the slugs in the jackets, and common mechanism for operating all of said means, substantially as set forth.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Lowell, Massachusetts, this 28th day of February,- A. I). nineteen hundred and eighteen.

OREA M.

KELLEY. [1 5.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

